Catch for jewelry and the like



.5. c. LAPP AND J. A. HALEY.

.GATCH FOR JEWELRY AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1921.

n3 fig. 655* '3 Patented June 28, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

JOHN G. urn, or NEWARK, Aim JOHN A. EALEY, or IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY.

carton FOR JEWELRY annrnn LIKE.

Application filed February 26, 1921. Serial No. 447,982.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, JOHN C. LAPP and JOHN A. HALEY, citizens of the United' States, and residents of Newark, countyof Essex, and State of NewJersey, and W- ington, county ofEssex, and State of New Jersey, respectively, have invented certain one wall of which, as 18, is adapted to renew and useful Improvements in Catches for Jewelry and the like, of which the 01 lowing is a specification. V

This invention relates to an improved catch, particularly adapted for use with jewelry, and is designed to provide a catch secure against accidental opening and which is also ornamental, and the construction of which provides for extreme stability.

The invention is further designed to pro-- vide a catch in which the strain of holding the members together is borne mainly by two substantial members which form the catch, the latch or slide having its function mainly directed toward holding such strainreceiving members together.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved catch. Fig. 2 is a top view with the two members separated. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the two members separated. Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a view showing a modified use of the catch with a slightly modified form of construction to adapt it to such use, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the catch shown in Fig. 6, but illustrating the two members separated.

The catch comprises two members, one of which contains a slide which, when pushed in, holds the members together, and which, when withdrawn to its outer limit of movement, permits the ready separation of the two members, and to fully illustrate the invention we show in the drawing one member 10 and a second member 11, which are adapted to be assembled as shown in Fig. 1, and when thus assembled forming a boxlike casing. In order to form such casing the member 10 has end walls 12 and a side wall 13, and the member 11 has a side wall 14 which closes the open side of the member 10.

Each of the members is provided with means for attaching it to elements to be joined, in the form shown, this means consisting of flanges 15 which are adapted to receive strands 16 of a bracelet or other similar article of jewelry. It will be evi- 1 dent, of course, that the outer edges of these members are adaptedto receive other forms or designs of strand to be joined, these changes to adapt the device for these purposes being within the ability of a jeweler.

The member 10 has a well 17 inside of it,

ceive the inner end of the slide 19, which also passes through the outer wall 12 as Well as the inner wall 18, the slide having an outer end 20 which, when it is pressed in,

lies normally against the edge of the catch, but]. which can'be pulled out by the finger nai The member 11 has a loop or staple 21 which fits approximately within the well, as will be clearly seen from Figs. 3 and 5, and thus holds the two members against relative movement longitudinally or transversely in the direction of strain by a pull on the opposed sides of the catch where the catch is attached to the article of jewelry.

It will thus be seen that the strain tending to separate the parts is borne by these interlocked portions. To prevent accidental movement of the slide we split the inner end of it, and this split portion has its outer edges made convex, as at 22, so that the narrowest parts of the split portion are at the ends of convex part, and shoulders 23 at the ends of the convex part may be provided to limit the movement of the slide.

It will be seen that the spring action due to this part being split yieldingly holds the slide in position, as an inward push, when the members are in the position shown in Fig. 2, must be suflicient to squeeze together the two arms of the split portion, and similarly when the slide is in its inner position an outward pull is necessary to push the two arms together to pass through the opening in the wall 18, and in this manner the slide is held against accidental movement.

Furthermore, this form of slide provides a positive snap which is easily felt by the finger operating the slide, so that there is an indication of when the slide gets to its locked or unlocked position.

In the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the casing is modified to illustrate that it can be used for joining the ends of a loop, for instance, in a watch bracelet, the bracelet part 24 of which is shown as being slid through slots in the flanges 25 of the member 10 and looped through the flange 26 of the member 11. The end walls 27 of the box like casing are provided by the member 10, while the side walls are provided, as at 28, by the member 11.

It will be evident that other changes may be made in the arrangement of the catch to adapt it for a number of different uses.

We claim:

1. A catch comprising two members, one member having a well and end walls, a slide with a split end and convex outer side edges, said slide extending through oneend wall and one wall of the well, said side edges engaging said last mentioned wall, and a loop on the second member to enter the well, and to receive the split end of the slide, whereby the members are locked together, the members when so locked forming a box-like casouter edge to engage with the wall of the well to limit its outward movement, the outside edges of the split portion being convex so as to yieldingly hold it, by the edges of the opening in the wall of the well, in its inner and outer positions, the second memher having a loop to enter the well and to substantially fit therein and adapted to re ceive the slide to look the members together. 3. A catch comprising two members, one

member having an outer wall and an inner member having a loop to receive the split portion of the slide, whereby the members are held together. i

In testimony that we claim the foregoing, we have hereto set our hands, this 25th day of February, 1921. I

i v J OHN' C. LAPP,

JOHN A. HALEY. 

